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ICYMI: Florida education news in review, week of Nov. 12, 2018

 
Published Nov. 17, 2018

Across Florida, local voters have agreed time and again to tax themselves more as a way to support school needs. Yet they live in a state where lawmakers keep pushing for lower taxes. How will this apparent discrepancy play out? Read on for that and more news. •  Don’t miss our weekly highlights of the news, views, reports and more. You can keep up daily with our conversation on Facebook, hear our podcast, and follow our blog to get all the latest Florida education news. All tips, comments and ideas welcome. Know anyone else who’d like to get this weekly roundup or other email updates? Have them send a note to jsolochek@tampabay.com.

Top of the Times

Politics, practicality, price: Across Florida, rural students put off by perceived weaknesses of higher education, Claire McNeill
“Rural students are far less likely than urban and suburban peers to go to college, and the divide is growing deeper in places across Florida. If they do go, rural students are less likely to choose four-year universities, and they’re more likely to drop out. Many hail from deep-red counties in the economic lurch — the same places where, in major polls, people say they’re disillusioned with higher education.”

Florida voters are saying yes when school districts ask for more money. Is that a good thing?, Jeffrey S. Solochek
“Hillsborough County school superintendent Jeff Eakins takes a clear message from last week’s election, which saw many Floridians vote to tax themselves more to help public schools meet rising costs. People see the challenges firsthand and ‘they know they want better,’ he said, referring to tax referendums that won approval in Hillsborough and seven other Florida school districts. But some fear lawmakers in Tallahassee will draw a different conclusion from the voters’ willingness to pitch in — that now, despite inflation and growing enrollment, they won’t have to funnel as much state money into schools.”

Man who defrauded area charter schools sentenced to 20 years in prison, Megan Reeves
“The mastermind behind a scheme to defraud charter schools in seven Florida counties, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison. Marcus May, 56, was also ordered to pay $5 million in fines to the state by Escambia County Circuit Judge Thomas Dannheisser. He described May’s crimes as ‘a shocking pattern of pervasive theft’ when handing down the sentence, according to the State Attorney’s Office.”

Losing Hudson and Mittye P. Locke elementaries? Pasco parents, students and teachers push back against proposed school closings, Jeffrey S. Solochek
“Fifth-grader Iris Garmandiz spent part of her weekend crafting a letter to Pasco schools superintendent Kurt Browning. ‘I do not want this school shut down,’ Iris said before heading into Hudson Elementary for classes on Monday.”

Florida recount: The civics lesson, Jeffrey S. Solochek
“While Florida politicians battle over ballots, the National Education Association and its state and local affiliates aim to turn the rancor into a classroom lesson.”

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Around the State

Billions are being spent to protect children from school shootings. Does any of it work?, Washington Post, John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich
“The schools that have experienced gun violence consistently cited simple, well-established safety measures as most effective at minimizing harm: drills that teach rapid lockdown and evacuation strategies, doors that can be secured in seconds and resource officers, or other adults, who act quickly. But fear has long dictated what schools invest in, and although campus shootings remain extremely rare, many superintendents are under intense pressure from parents to do something — anything — to make their kids safer.”

School plan to promote failing students, but with help, Daily Commercial, Payne Ray
“Broadly, it means students won’t fail an entire year if they performed poorly in only one class. ‘Kids should definitely be held accountable for failing classes,’ [Lake County transformation director Emily] Weiskopf said. ‘They should not be held a whole grade level for one failed course.’”

School board hardens rule to make it easier to hire substitute teachers, St. Augustine Record, Travis Gibson
“In recent years, the [St. Johns County] district has only hired substitute teachers with bachelor’s degrees despite the current school board rules allowing the hire of substitute teacher candidates high school diploma or equivalent. The rule change Tuesday shifted the district’s policy, giving the district free reign to hire substitutes who haven’t graduated from college.”

Fennoy: Standardized tests a necessary part of life, Palm Beach Post, Carol Rose
“Palm Beach County Schools Superintendent Donald E. Fennoy II said Thursday that while he believes there is too much testing in public schools, standardized tests are a necessary part of life.”

The Future Of Learning? Well, It’s Personal, NPR, Anya Kamenetz
“In fact, in speaking about it with more than a dozen educators, technologists, innovation experts and researchers, I’ve developed a theory: ‘Personalized learning’ has become a Janus-faced word, with at least two meanings in tension:
– The use of software to allow each student to proceed through a pre-determined body of knowledge, most often math, at his or her own pace.
– A whole new way of doing school, not necessarily focused on technology, where students set their own goals. They work both independently and together on projects that match their interests, while adults facilitate and invest in getting to know each student one-on-one, both their strengths and their challenges.
Which vision of personalization will prevail? Pace alone, or ‘Personalize it all’? And what proportion of the hype will be realized?”

Other Views

SAT scores still lag in Florida, which means politicians are still failing, Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano
“They are the ones who dictated curriculum. They are the ones who created policies that have led to an over-reliance on standardized tests. And they are the ones who consistently underfund schools and push tax revenues toward for-profit education groups. Twenty years of Bush-led reforms, and Florida’s high school students are still worse off than comparable states.”

Just as Florida Should Be Embracing Its Vibrant Immigrant Community, Its New Education Plan Is Set to Make Life Harder for Students Learning English, The 74 guest columnist Conor P. Williams of The Century Foundation
“What’s going on? In a moment when so many states are gasping for the human (and financial) capital that immigrants contribute, Florida’s reticence to perform even the basic elements of supporting these young children’s multilingual development is, well, baffling.”


Charter school oversight?
, St. Augustine Record editorial
“On Tuesday, the former owner of one of the larger charter school companies in the state, Newpoint Charter Schools, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined $5 million on two counts of racketeering and one count of fraud. … The most disturbing thing about the case is it will not cause even a hiccup in the Legislature’s drive to continue expanding the presence of new charter schools and funding opportunities.”

With sex-ed video, reality unwelcome, Herald-Tribune editorial
“There are, in simple terms, two ways for adults to communicate with teenagers in a public-school setting about sexuality and sex. One method involves dancing around the subject and employing analogies and other avoidance strategies; another is a more direct approach, though without extremely graphic images. During an advanced literature course recently at Pine View School, a guest lecturer showed a video — a short film lacking both administrative approval and the consent of the students’ parents — that employs the latter strategy. To no one’s surprise, controversy ensued.”

Reports of Note

Does more policing make middle schools safer?, Brookings Institution Brown Center Chalkboard, Kenneth Alonzo Anderson
“My findings indicate that policies to increase school safety must address the complexity of school safety, including factors outside of schooling contexts, and should extend beyond popular single-item solutions, such as increased policing or increased mental health support. … Rather than doubling down on SRO use to improve safety, resources could also be used to interview students and staff, systematically study neighborhood and social conditions of the schools that regularly report zero acts, and share strategies from the schools that report zero acts with more challenging schools.”

STEM without fruit: How noncognitive skills improve workforce outcomes, American Enterprise Institute, Brent Orrell
The Obama and Trump administrations rolled out STEM education-based programs designed to educate people for future jobs.  … One industry-sponsored survey found that two out of five Americans believe a STEM worker shortage is ‘at crisis levels.’ Current and projected labor market demands suggest that this rhetoric may be overdone and point toward a need to revise this STEM-focused approach to workforce development.”

Coming Up

Week of Dec. 11: Legislative committee meetings

Jan. 16, 2019: Florida Board of Education

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